Monday, August 7, 2017

A Slice of What Used To Be

I retired two years ago, and I write less and less of teaching. Mostly I have old memories, old "things I used to do". The best thing is staying in touch with former students! But here at the beginning of the year, I do like to share at least one thing I did that may be helpful. This is a re-write from a post several years ago.

On the first day of school, I wanted my class to know that this would be a year filled with reading and writing, and I wanted them to realize that they were the ones that would be driving the year. I taught a mix of 6th, 7th and 8th graders and many of you know that personal choice was a top priority for all of our students, K through 8. One of the things I did on the first day was to share a poem or a poetic quote to help us leap into the year. I gave each student a copy, they taped it into their writers' notebooks, and then responded to it. In that response, I asked them to make one secret and very personal goal for the year. Although I never knew what those particular goals were, I would re-visit students once in a while to ask how they were doing with it, and if there was something I could provide that would help reach the goal? Obviously, it involved trust. There were other times that students created goals that I did know about, but I felt that trusting that they could work to reach a goal secretly was inspiring and empowering.

Yesterday on Facebook, Michelle Haseltine (One Grateful Teacher) asked for ideas of poems for 7th graders for the beginning of the year. Here are two poems I used often and shared with her, both by Eve Merriam: "Metaphor" and "Thumbprint", highlighting the concept of Tabula Rasa, or "clean slate" and the uniqueness of each person. You can find them on the web easily, and I suspect many of you already know them. There are others that might fit you and your class, but these two are favorites of mine. And here is another, some call a poem and others name it a quote, author unknown. It's inspiring to me, too, every time I read it. It calls for courage, venturing into the unknown, just what each student does every year.

Don't you agree that they're brave?

As you journey through life,

choose your destinations well,

but do not hurry there.

You will arrive soon enough.

Wander the back roads and forgotten

paths,

keeping your destination

like the fixed point of a compass.

Seek out new voices, strange sights,

and ideas foreign to your own.

Such things are

riches for the soul.

And if, upon arrival,

you find that your destination

is not exactly as you had dreamed,

do not be disappointed.

Think of all you would have missed

but for the journey there.

and know that the true worth

of your travels lies not in where

you come to be at journey’s end,

but in who you come to be

along the way.

anonymous

Best wishes as you all begin your journeys this school year if you are still educators. If not, the wishes go to you as well in your own unique journeys.

Love the anonymous poem and its "but do not hurry there"...seems to ask us to both anticipate and bask...love it. What a special tradition, to have your student's set a personal , private goal. This instills such responsibility for one's own learning. Thanks for sharing your wisdom, Linda!

So often we are focused on getting to our destination and not what we see along the way. We miss so many learning experiences this way. I think as adults we realize this, but as students it is all about getting there the fastest way possible. The ;poem you share would be a great piece to have displayed yearlong in a classroom and referred to often as a reminder that without the journey we wouldn't reach the destination. Thanks for sharing, Linda.

I remember when you shared this poem a few years ago. I printed it, cut it out, and taped it in my journal. It is still one of my favorites. I am not returning to the classroom this year and I'm beginning to feel a bit of that twinge as I see my friends doing so. I'm on to new adventures, but the return to school will always have a special place in my heart.

Well, it is clear that I love the poem(s) too, Ramona. The process along the way feels important to notice, and isn't that a part of what we are doing, too, when we celebrate on the weekend? Thanks for being there along the path with me!

I'm so glad you haven't retired from your blog and continue to encourage those of us still working at being the best teachers we can be. Thanks for the poem suggestions. I hope Michelle makes a document of all the suggestions she gathered. It could keep me supplied in poems for the year.